Portals, Masks, and Metahumans
by Cactus Earth
Summary: When the Young Justice team accidentally crosses over to the Marvel universe, the Avengers are there to greet them. With peace and harmony. Just kidding. Fighting ensuses, because all cross dimension travellers are bad, right? So what will the Avengers do when these travellers are a group of teenagers? Same as always.
1. Cross Dimensional Shiz

Robin moaned in pain, putting his hand on his head.

"Robin!" M'gann's hands latched onto his own. "Are you alright?"

"Rob!" Wally hit him in the arm. "You're okay!" Robin yelped; the arm Wally had hit seemed to have a dislocated shoulder as well. "Sorry, sorry!"

"I will strangle you, Wally, if you are ever that idiotic again."

"Rob!"

"Shut it, Flash Boy," Artemis said from where she was picking up her scattered arrows.

"You're the one talking, Arty Farty!" He shot back at her.

"Kid Idiot," She rolled her eyes.

"Replacement!" He stuck his tongue out as she narrowed her eyes.

"Baby Flash!"

"Speedy!"

"GUYS!" Robin yelled at them as he relocated his shoulder, "What is going on?"

"Some other-dimensional type shiz," Wally waved his hand dismissively and went back to arguing with Artemis.

"What?" Robin looked at the remaining members of his team, confused.

"Don't you remember?" M'gann asked.

"I don't either," Conner said from next to Robin. "All I remember is waking up next to you," He gestured at Robin, "And seeing everyone else unconscious on the beach."

"You both really don't remember?" M'gann and Kaldur looked pretty concerned.

"Guys," Robin said calmly. "I don't need cryptic right now. Explain what happened up to this point, in detail."

"Well," M'gann started, "We were going to report to Batman after seeing Sportsmaster in town, because we were on that undercover mission, remember?" Conner nodded as Robin hummed in approval.

"Then," Kaldur jumped in, "We were heading back to the bioship, where we were going to meet up because Robin and Artemis had split up from us, remember?" More nods.

"But," M'gann continued, "Conner, Wally, Kaldur, and I had gotten into the bioship already and you both came running around the corner with Sportsmaster behind you, remember?"

"Guys," Robin snapped impatiently, "We remember, can you please go a little faster?"

"You both got on the ship," Kaldur explained, "And we had taken off. Sportsmaster was all ticked and said 'Yeah, brats? Are you gonna mess with my equipment? Well, you didn't touch this!', remember?" He looked pointedly at Robin as the two nodded again. Robin blushed, 'I didn't think he'd be that mad.'

"And," M'gann looked at Robin also, "He shot the ship with a gun and we began shaking with this purplish light. Robin saw Sportsmaster messing with some device thing, and jumped out to stop him, but the bioship exploded in more of that light." Both boys were staring at her blankly now.

"Conner jumped out of the bioship after Robin, because he had escaped the blast but it knocked you off course," Kaldur looked at them sadly. "Robin would have died and everybody else would be here, in this dimension."

"Then why are we here?" Robin asked gesturing to himself and Superboy.

"Right before we disappeared, we saw Sportsmaster shoot you point-blank with that gun thing. By the imprints in the sand, it seems like Conner wrapped himself around Robin so that he took the most of the damage when you both landed," M'gann looked at her boyfriend proudly.

"And now we're all here?" Robin clarified.

"Yes."

"Even the bio-ship?" He frowned.

"Yes." Robin furrowed his eyebrows.

"You said the light was purple?"

"Yes." Robin looked even more confused.

"Hey, KF!" He shouted to his friend.

"Yeah?"

"You and Artemis remember a purple light too?"

"I do."

"I do, too," Artemis confirmed.

"Why?" Wally asked, "You don't think-"

"I do think."

"Explanation?" Artemis waved her hands at them.

"People would have come by now!" Wally pointedly ignored her.

"Who says they haven't?" Robin pointed behind Kid Flash.

"Put your hands in the air and drop your weapons!" Rang out from the floating ship.

"Dude, I hate dimensional wormholes!" Wally yelped, looking frantic.

"What?!" M'gann, Conner, Kaldur, and Artemis asked in unison.

"Guys, I don't think we're in Kansas anymore," Robin remarked.

"We never were in Kansas," Conner answered.

"I repeat, put your hands in the air and drop your weapons!" A spotlight fell on Artemis, Robin, and Kaldur, who were all clearly weapon-carrying.

"Don't drop your weapons," Robin and Artemis snapped at Kaldur, who had gone to remove his water-bearers.

"Why? This is clearly an accident. We can get help from them," Kaldur frowned.

"I don't think they will take kindly to extra-dimensionals," Robin said. "Best not assume they're friendly."

"Put your hands in the air and drop your weapons or we will take action!" Robin looked wary and motioned for them to put their hands up.

"Rob!" Wally looked scandalized.

"I only said don't disarm yourselves, we don't want a fight if we don't know what is on their side." The Team slowly raised their hands.

"Robin?" Artemis asked. "This isn't gonna stop anything."

"Why?" Robin asked as Superboy leaped at the ship.

"Because Conner is flipping out."

"Thanks, Artemis, I noticed." Immediately after Conner made contact with the ship from his enhanced jump, smaller planes began pouring out of the larger ship.

"Shoot those down!" Robin ordered frantically. "We don't want a combat battle!"

"Miss Martian," Kaldur addressed as Robin and Artemis darted off, "Link us up."

 _My arrows aren't doing damage!_ Artemis informed them. _I'm too far off to make a difference and my supplies are limited!_

 _Artemis, Robin!_ Kaldur ordered. _Wait for them to be on the ground._

 _But-_

 _I know, Robin. But neither of you are making an impact from here._ Robin grumbled as he threw exploding bird-a-rangs at the offending ships.

 _Fine._ He thought and moved back to his team. If they overwhelm us, I'm blaming you, Kaldur.

"Six targets," Fury lectured the impatient superheroes before him. He had called the Avengers at the first sign of an extraterrestrial/dimensional change, Tony knew. But honestly, was he trying to tell the Avengers, the Avengers, to be worried about an alien threat? Like they weren't paranoid enough already.

Natasha leaned towards the window.

"They aren't attacking the ships anymore."

"Good. I will be sending you down, but it is a last resort. If they put up a struggle after they have clearly lost, bring them in with force, but we need them alive and preferably not too damaged." Fury looked at Thor pointedly, "Don't kill them."

"Won't that solve problems?" Tony asked. "Kidding, kidding," He muttered when a glare was turned on him.

"And if they surrender?" Steve Rogers asked.

"Then escort them back to Avengers tower peacefully, I will speak to them there."

"Do we go to Avengers tower if we apprehend them?"

"Yes-"

"Wait, why the tower?" Tony cried, outraged. "I don't want to babysit!"

"The tower has cells made for this reason."

"Ugh. I regret knowing you people." And they walked off to a ship, Tony grumbling as he put his armor on.

They stood on the edge of a ship, looking out over the battle below them. The 'targets', as Fury called them, seemed pretty skilled.

They had Greenbean, who was flying above the chaos, taking down random agents and keeping one of her teammates, bruteboy, under control. She was taking significant damage, though. Her flight patterns began to falter as rounds of bullets were fired, but she held her ground -air.

Bruteboy, as Tony had named him, was leaping about, landing on ships. They were well out of reach, as his jumps kept decreasing in range, but every so often he would tear into a ship in a blind rage, and the green girl would devote all of her attention to calming him down. He was taking heavy damage as well, slowing down almost imperceptibly with every tranquilizer dart shot at him. The girl was trying her best to deflect the darts, but she couldn't get them all, and the boy seemed to be tiring a decent amount.

Water Face, again a Tony name, was on the edge of the beach, utilizing the water. Tendrils of liquid lassoed agents and deflected darts. He was slowing down as well, the show his water made attracting agents in swarms.

Zippy and Baby Hawkeye, Tony names, were working as a team. A bright yellow suited boy was running at light speed, carrying a girl with a bow. She was nailing down agents with an assortment of trick arrows. Zippy was running through people, throwing fists and legs, and his passenger, at agents. Her enraged shrieks and his laughs reached them every time she found herself on the ground, surrounded by agents, before Zippy ran back, a handful of arrows for her. But, they could see the dramatic decrease in speed, and how every time the boy went for an arrow run the trips were longer, showing the girl was almost out of ammunition. This super duo thing wouldn't last them much longer.

Lastly, Ninja Freak, Tony name, was making a lot of damage in the ranks of agents. The small child was appearing randomly where his teammates were and had effectively stayed out of their sight long enough to make the Avengers visibly nervous. There was nothing more dangerous than an unidentified threat.

"They have mental communication," Natasha informed.

"How do you know?" Questioned Steve.

"Looked at the Martian girl-"

"Greenbean," Tony interrupted her.

Natasha narrowed her eyes, "Greenbean's head follows her teammates. If you watch, you can see where the raven-haired boy is, based on her eyes. She looks at whoever is talking- thinking."

"I agree," Thor stated.

"So Greenbean has to go," Tony agreed. "What about Bruteboy?"

"He has to also," Steve planned. "Thor could take him."

"Yes! I will crush Bruteboy!"

"No harm policy, Thor." The others chorused.

"Right."

"Avengers, move in. Our agents' forces are depleted."

"Roger that, Fury," Tony sighed. "Ready to attack some not-so-defenseless teenagers?"

"Always," Clint responded.

The ship touched down and all six Avengers stepped out.

"We look HOT," Tony murmured when the teenagers turned towards them.

"Split up, get the green one and, uh, Bruteboy, first!" Steve ordered quiet enough so the teens wouldn't hear. Or so they thought.

The smallest member appeared in front of them, and it was shocking enough to stop them for a moment. He shook his head slightly, indicating the conversation going on. He nodded, and Steve gave in and jumped at him. The boy dodged punches and shield strikes. Tony carefully watched the fight between the two as the rest of the Avengers separated. Ninja Freak's face changed expressions from an unsettling smirk to a wrinkled nose to sticking his tongue out ever so slightly to eyes blown wide in fear.

"M'gann-" He muttered, turning to look up at the green girl. She lay unconscious in Thor's arms. "M'gann!" He called out frantically.

Steve wasted no time in punching the distracted child in the stomach. He hit the sand and the boy scrambled to his feet, a look of anger on his face, a furious glare glinting off his mask. Tony began to shoot at his feet and the boy looked up. Seeing Tony's suit he grinned maniacally.

"Hold on Ninja Freak, don't touch me." The boy leapt past Steve, paying no to attention to the super soldier. "Hey! I will shoot you!"

The boy landed on Tony's shoulders and began to mess with the wires barely sticking out of the neckplate. Steve tacked the child.

"Ah!" Robin cried out, struggling against the arms pinning him to the sand. Tony walked over to them.

"What were you doing to my suit?" Tony shrieked at him.

"Let's find out." And he pressed a button, causing an EMP wave to shoot out of Tony's suit.

"Good Lord!" Tony let out a strangled yell as he fell forwards in his unmoving suit.

"Tony!" In an impulse to catch his friend, Steve let go of the boy so he could soften Tony's landing.

"See you!" The boy ran off, vanishing as soon as he reached the others.

"He is so dead," Tony muttered as he got out of his suit. "It should come back online after a few minutes," He told Steve. "But if you get the kid we could get it back up quicker by finding out whatever the hell he did."

"I'm going to help the others. When they're handled we can team up on the kid."

"Okay. I'll just stay here, then. Being useless!"

"Per usual," The Captain mumbled as he sprinted off.

After Steve joined the fight, the Team went down pretty fast. First, Artemis ran out of arrows and had Wally put her down. She became an easy target and was knocked out by Falcon. Wally had been tripped by Natasha, and the speed he was traveling at caused him to be knocked out on impact. Superboy had attacked Thor in an effort to help M'gann and ended up unconscious with Mjolnir holding him down. Aqualad had been overwhelmed by the rest of the Avengers and was knocked out too. The five teenagers were lying in a heap on the edge of the beach.

As Thor went to put M'gann with the rest of them the Avengers stood around, waiting for Robin to appear.

"What makes you think he will come?" Clint frowned. "They may not even care about each other."

"He freaked when the Martian went down. He'll come."

"Hey!" Tony cried out in joy, "My suit is back!"

"Darn," Came a voice from behind them. "And I thought I used a stronger EMP."

"You," Tony growled at the teen standing in front of his friends.

"Me," Robin agreed.

"Look, kid," Steve started. "You can't beat us-"

"So now would be the time to surrender and, like, eat sedative or something and tell you all my secrets, right?"

"I was going to say come in peacefully, but that works." Steve looked at his fellow Avengers.

"Tony," Natasha said, drawing Robin's attention, "If he takes out another knockout gas bomb, I'll tell you, and you can shoot him." Robin glanced back at Tony and slipped what was apparently a bomb back into his pocket.

"You're right, Ms. Dark, Black, and Brooding," He smiled childishly at Natasha, relaxing out of a fighting stance, "Bombs aren't very elegant." Then, instead of bombs, two beeping bird-a-rangs appeared in his hands. He hurled them both at Steve, and turned to Wally, pulling out a syringe full of adrenaline.

Steve deflected both of them as Tony fired two quick shots at Robin's feet. Robin was thrown away from Wally, and the syringe left his hand. He leaped up, to receive a shield in the stomach.

"Dude, again with the stomach?" Robin asked, struggling for breath as he scrambled away. Natasha pulled out her batons and made to bring them down on Robin's shoulders.

It was fair to say that every Avenger was surprised when Robin pulled his own escrima sticks and blocked the blows. As the two engaged in close combat Widow work hard to keep his attention on only her. He kept glancing nervously at the other Avengers, who moved closer in case Robin somehow got free of Natasha. Every time he looked away Natasha purposely attacked harder, so he couldn't focus on anything else.

"Steve!" Natasha signaled, and Captain America stepped in between them, but instead of punching Robin again he grabbed both of the vigilante's arms. Before Robin noticed what he was doing, Steve had the younger hero successfully pinned.

The group closed in, looking at the thin teenager fighting furiously against the stronger hold. His eyes flicked warily over each hero, struggling harder when Tony stepped closer.

"Hey, Widow? You got any sedatives?" Asked Tony, grinning at the horror-struck child. "I think our friend here needs some."

"I've got some, yeah. But using sedatives could be complicated."She motioned for Tony to step aside with her.

"He's not some little kid that's going to have nightmares from your needle juice, Natasha," Tony grumbled exasperatedly.

"So you want him to be drugged?" Natasha challenged.

"Yes!" Tony wrinkled his nose. "Nat, we don't know what these kids are doing here. For all we know, this is some elaborate plot to get us all on the plane them use another one of his little EMP's and put us all six feet under!"

"With him on the plane, Stark?" She leaned in, "Not to mention his team? You're right," she agreed, "We have no idea what they're here for. But do you really think that a child is going to risk the lives of five other people he's working with? Five other people he clearly cares about?"

"Natasha, what's the harm in one more unconscious teenager?"

"Okay, you ask his medical history then." She backed up, crossing her arms. Tony raised an eyebrow.

"Why? Do your spy thing, spidey girl, stab him with the syringe thingy and we can get out of here!"

"It isn't that simple, Stark!" She hissed. "What will you do if he stops breathing, huh? What then? I know you may not like it, but if we want to know what they were trying to do here then we need all of them. Alive."

"She's right, Stark," said Hawkeye, stepping up to the pair. "Unless you want to interview this kid and see if it's safe, it's better just to keep him awake. Anyways," He grinned, "You can talk with him on the plane ride. Should be interesting."

"Whatever, Barton," Tony snarked as they walked back over to the pile of teens. "So kid," He addressed Robin, "Guess you get to stay awake for our plane ride. Hope you're ready to sit for six hours on end."

"Oh, lucky me," Robin mumbled sarcastically. "Now can you get off me, Mr. Patriot?"

"Nope, Jackie Chan," Tony grinned. "We may not be pumping you with sedative, but you still get to wear the handcuffs!"

After Tony, Thor, Falcon, and Hawkeye tied the others in the ship, Robin was lead in, grumbling and handcuffed, by Steve.

He sat unhappily in his seat as Tony looked through the items in his utility belt. As Tony picked up his holo-computer, which they had confiscated, Robin muttered softly.

"Batman is going to kill me."

"Who's Batman?" Asked Clint curiously. "Actually, who are you? We never got a name." Robin looked away.

"His name is Robin." His head snapped to Steve. "Your teammate said it, the fast one." He looked appalled at Wally, who was lying limply in a seat.

"Yeah, kid," Natasha said from next to Robin. "Do you guys have names?"

"The green one is M'gann," Tony commented.

"I'm pretty sure the fast one's name isn't Baywatch, but that's what me wannabe said." Chimed in Hawkeye.

"Aye, the leaping one is Conner!" Stated Thor. "The one that flies told me so!" Robin looked away from them.

"Come on, kid!" Tony nudged him, "This ride will be so much more fun if we talk!"

"Fun for you," Robin grumbled.

"Yep," Tony grinned.

"No," Robin grumbled, staring ahead because, with Steve and Natasha on either side of him, he really couldn't look anywhere else.

"Why not?" Tony gave Robin puppy dog eyes, which earned him a withering glare from the vigilante.

"Because you seem like a jackass."

"Oh, come on kid. Let's get talking you'll learn that's not true!"

"No."

"Steve? Natasha? I'm bored." Tony simpered, "Ninja brat won't talk to me." Wally moaned in the corner of the ship. "Ooh, I'll talk to the fast one instead. What was his name? Oh, Zippy!"

Robin decided Tony reminded him of the Joker.

"KF?" Robin asked uncertainly.

"Rob…" Wally slurred. Robin's eyes widened as he saw how Wally was restrained. He was handcuffed to Artemis, back to back, and Wally had a tendency to not think things through very well, and any reaction he had in this position would probably end with Artemis having two newly dislocated shoulders.

"Oh, God," Robin muttered, working faster to get his handcuffs undone, so he could stop Wally before him or Artemis was seriously hurt.

"Rob?" Wally seemed worried about the lack of response but kept his eyes closed.

"Yeah, KF?" Almost undone…

"Batman's gonna kill you." Nearly there…

"I know, KF," Done. Robin lunged out of his seat towards his friends. "Hey, KF?" He asked his friend, placing both hands on his friend's arms.

"Hmm?"

"When you open your eyes, don't freak out, okay?"

"Why would I-" Wally opened his eyes and promptly freaked out. Robin felt himself hit someone behind him as he was shoved violently.

"Ah!" A small gasp of pain escaped Artemis.

"OhmygodArtemisareyouokayI'msosorry," Wally rambled on to the unconscious girl. Robin leaped up into a crouch, moving to join his teammates.

"Ow!" Cried out Robin as his face impacted with the ground, hard. Steve held both of his arms at an uncomfortable angle behind him.

"What was that for?" He tried to twist Steve off of him. "Get off me!"

"Kid, you're lucky you're not knocked out with the rest of your team. Do you want to be held down the rest of the way there, or are you gonna sit down and keep the handcuffs on?"

"Rob?" Kid Flash looked so confused.

"Wally, we lost. Can you lean forwards two inches?" Wally did, and Artemis cried out again.

"Dislocated, okay." He looked up at Steve, face still squished against the metal floor. "Mr. Shield guy? Both of Artemis' shoulders are dislocated. Can you set them?" Steve held the handcuffs in front of Robin's face. Robin sighed and nodded, taking the handcuffs and twisting them around his wrists.

Natasha walked over to Artemis and quickly set her shoulders, and Artemis relaxed into sleep again. Steve pulled Robin back over to the seat, earning a frustrated glare from the teen.

"Hello," Natasha smiled at Wally, who smiled back nervously. "Do you have any health problems that could cause trouble breathing, heart problems, ect.?"

"KF don't-" Robin was cut off by Steve's hand held tightly over his mouth.

"I don't think so, why?"

"No reason." Her smile widened as she inserted the syringe into his neck.

"That won't last long," Wally smirked as he drifted off. "I'll be awake in a few minutes." He yawned. Natasha smirked.

"That's a strong enough tranquilizer to knock out an elephant. It should keep him asleep for a while. Clint, could you watch him? We don't need anyone drifting into a coma." She walked over to where Robin and Steve were sitting, pulling a capsule from her pocket.

"Hold on, hold on," Tony stood up, frowning. "I thought we weren't sedating this little brat."

"We weren't, and then he proved himself able to wreak havoc on our ship, and personally I'd rather like a peaceful trip with a partially conscious teenage ninja."

"Fine," Tony put his hands up in defeat. "But if either one of those two dies on us it's your fault because I was listening for once."

Natasha rolled her eyes and squatted down to Robin. "Got any health problems, kid?"

"Yes, very many, and if you put a sedative anywhere near my mouth I might die."

"Good thing it's not a sedative then." Robin's eyes narrowed. "It's Seconal."

"A depressant," Robin mumbled.

"100mg of it, actually. You shouldn't have any problems with it, and you won't fall fully unconscious, making it easy for us to determine any breathing problems you may have, which is really the only reason you haven't been asleep this whole time."

Natasha handed the pill to Steve who looked at Robin.

"No way," Robin grumbled.

"Alright," Steve pinched Robin's nose so that he could only breathe through his mouth. After about two minutes Robin began to look frantic, pushing at Steve's hand. Robin suddenly gasped for breath and Steve put the pill in his mouth. Robin tried to spit it out, but Steve held his mouth shut and plugged his nose, and Robin couldn't breathe at all. "Swallow it," Steve said. Robin shook his head nervously, looking disoriented. Robin went limp against Steve's chest from lack of air and swallowed the pill. Immediately, the hands drew away.

Robin gasped, struggling to get more air.

"You okay?" Robin didn't respond, glaring at them angrily.

"It'll take effect in a few minutes," Natasha informed them. Like Natasha had said, the Avengers watched the smaller hero fade, going slack in his chair and leaning against Steve.

"What are we gonna do with these kids?" Clint asked.

"Babysit," Tony grumbled.


	2. It Comes With Gotham

**Author's Note: I'm making it so that Wally doesn't know Robin's identity in this, for prolonging chapter reasons.**

Wally West woke up to an unfamiliar room. And promptly freaked out. He tugged against the handcuffs on his wrists, trying to loosen them.

 _What had happened?_

He remembered a fight… Waking up on a ship thing… Artemis! He remembered now. ' _KF, we lost.'_ That's what Robin had said. Where was his team?

Wally could feel the cool metal of an inhibitor collar on his neck.

"Hello," A voice said. Wally's head snapped up. The red haired woman from before stood in front of him.

"Where's my team?" He snarled at her. She raised an eyebrow.

"In rooms similar to this one," She smiled at him. "What's your name?"

"Kid Flash," He glared at her.

"Your real name," She frowned.

"Youruis Stupidious," He grinned.

"Really?" She asked. He nodded. "Do you have any other names?"

"No."

"Hmm," She pulled out a needle.

"Hey!" Wally yelped as she slid it into his skin. "What the heck!"

"Truth serum," She smiled again. Wally's heart sank. Why couldn't they have chosen Robin for this? "What is your name?"

"Wally West," He quickly closed his mouth.

"Good. Why are you here?" Oh, well…

"Long story," Wally grinned nervously, surprised he was able to say that.

"I have time."

"We got shot with some gun thing," He paraphrased. She raised an eyebrow.

"Can you give me the names of your teammates?"

"Superboy, Artemis, Aqualad, Miss Martian, and Robin," He replied nervously.

"Their real names," She frowned, but recorded the code names anyways.

"Conner, Artemis, Kaldur, M'gann, and Robin,"

"And last names?"

 _She didn't notice?_ Wally wondered. He thought she would catch on immediately that he didn't have Robin's name.

"Uh, Conner Kent, Artemis Crock, Kaldur Something, M'gann I don't know, and Robin," He said.

"Do you know Robin's name?" She looked at him suspiciously.

"No," He stuttered. "Batman doesn't let him share it."

"Who's Batman?" She looked expectant.

"He's this scary dude that formed our team." Well, it was the truth.

"And why does he have Robin hide his identity?" Wally looked at her like she was incompetent.

"Because it's a secret."

"And how does he have this power over Robin?"

"They're a team. You know, Batman and Robin, the dynamic duo?" She frowned.

"Robin has two teams?"

"Well, I consider it three because he plays such a big role in the Justice League."

 _Shut up, Wally. Shut up!_

"The Justice League?" He tried not to speak. He really did.

"This group of superheros! Well, technically most of them are vigilantes, but…" She stood up.

"That's enough. Thank you." She paused by the door. "Do you know the identity of the Leaguers?"

"I know the Flash," He muttered.

"Do any of your teammates know all of the identities?" Wally swallowed his words.

"N-no," He tried.

"Do any of your teammates know the identities?" She stepped back towards him. He shook his head, keeping his mouth firmly shut. "Can you repeat that in words?" She asked.

He shook his head again.

"Words, Wally."

"N-" He couldn't form the word no. His brain wouldn't let him.

"Wally. If you don't tell me who knows, I'll have to go through all of your friends. You don't want them to get hurt, do you?" She was right, he didn't. Truth serum hurt, especially if you didn't want to give away the answers.

"Uh, they, they don't know," He worked his way through the sentence with difficulty.

"Wally. I'm going to ask you one more time. Who. Knows?"

He struggled to not say anything. But with his conscious not wanting everyone to be hurt and the truth serum in effect, he had to. It destroyed his better judgement.

"Robin." He was upset that his friend's name was the only word he was able to say clearly.

"Robin," She repeated. "Thank you, Wally." He slumped sadly underneath her gaze, and didn't move even when she had left the room.

* * *

"You're trying to tell me we have six teenagers from some other dimension that has a group of superish people named the Justice League? I'm not believing that, Nat." Tony leveled his gaze after she read out the results from Wally's interrogation.

"I agree, Natasha. It seems a bit odd that he wasn't able to name any of them. Their real names, I mean." Steve nodded. Natasha glared at them and sighed.

"He said the Robin kid knew the names. You can tag along with me for that, if you want."

"I don't want to. This sounds like BS to me, Natasha," Tony frowned.

"I'll go." Steve surprised her. She had thought Tony rather than Steve would want to come. "But how do you know Wally hadn't found a way around the serum?"

"Steve, you didn't see that kid. There was no way he had enough training to get around truth serum. I doubt he had any training at all involving truth serum, he looked terrible." Steve nodded.

"Okay. But I'm still having trouble with the other dimension thing."

They walked down the hall, passing the rooms with the team in them.

Steve decided Wally didn't have any experience with truth serum, as he looked through the one way window on the teenager's cell. He was staring down, his head supported by the collar on his neck. His hair was a mess and he looked about to cry.

Steve began to second guess his idea to come along and watch this.

They continued to walk, seeing the others in their cells. The reason Wally had been chosen was only because him and Robin were awake, and they had picked Wally, thinking the older boy would know more. Apparently they were wrong.

Natasha unlocked the door to Robin's cell quickly, and stepped inside, holding the door open for Steve. Robin looked at them warily.

"What?" He asked, frowning at the two Avengers. Natasha sat down in front of him, and Steve noticed he was one of the only teens not wearing a collar.

"What is your name?" Natasha asked.

"Uh, Robin?" He phrased it like a question, as they already knew that.

"Your real name," Natasha prompted.

"Would you believe me if I said Wally West?"

"No."

"Then I can't tell you." Natasha drew a second needle and slid it into the skin on Robin's neck. "I don't like truth serums." Robin glared as she withdrew the needle.

"Not my problem," Natasha smiled. "What is your real name?"

"One that starts with a letter of the alphabet." Natasha looked at him, shocked. He smirked.

"Which letter?" She regained her composure.

"One of the 26."

"Which one of the 26?"

"The best one."

"And which is the best one?"

"It depends on who you ask." Natasha glared at him. "What?" He cried, "I answered your questions!"

"If I am asking you, what is the best letter?" Robin shut his mouth hard, trying to think of a way out of answering.

"R," He muttered.

"Can you tell me the other letters?"

"Yes."

"Clarification?"

"Yes I can, no, I won't."

"What are the other letters?"

"I-C-K."

"So your name is Rick?"

"No." She stared at him.

"Is I-C-K not correct?"

"You never specified which name."

"Your real one."

"Which one?"

"The one you were born with."

"The last letter is D."

"Is Batman your mentor?"

"Yes," Robin blurted, surprised by the question change.

"Do you know the names of the Leaguers?" Robin looked startled when she brought up the League.

"Yes."

"What are they?"

"Batman, Superman, Flash, Green Lantern, Red Tornado, Martian Manhunter-"

"Their real names."

"Cool," Robin stated. "Who did you question before me?"

"Did you just say their names were cool?"

"Are, and yes." He narrowed his eyes, "Who was it?"

"I don't need to tell you that." His hands gripped around the cuffs holding them down.

"It's my team. I deserve to know."

"If you give me your name. Your real name." Robin looked at her.

"No."

"Then I won't tell you." Robin looked worried. Steve had originally thought he was mad at his team, but he realised he was really concerned for them.

"Do any of your friends have experience in interrogation?" Steve jumped in.

"No," Robin looked self-conscious. Natasha smiled, seeing the tag-team confuse him.

"What about you?"

"Yes." The response was quiet, practically whispered.

"When?"

"Times." Steve frowned.

"With who?"

"Sadistic jerks."

"You're thirteen?"

"Yes."

"What is your name?" Natasha jumped in.

"Ric - Robin." He struggled to get around the questions.

"What happened to your parents?" Steve asked.

"Died." Robin snapped sharply.

"How?" Steve frowned at the same time Natasha asked,

"Batman isn't your dad?"

"No, Batman isn't my dad, and painfully," Robin seemed to struggle with words now.

"Are you alright, kid?" Steve asked, seeing the small gasps of air the boy in front of him was taking.

"I'm," He paused, struggling with his answer. "Fine."

"He'll be okay." Natasha confirmed, "It's a side effect of truth serum. He dodged all my questions, and until he gives the first answer that popped into his head, he wants to. He just turned to stopping himself from spouting answers by cutting off his own air flow so he can't talk unless it's fully conscious decision." Robin nodded, taking another shuddering breath.

"Kid, surely it's not worth it? We don't even know these guys."

"You'll ask the others to, to identify them." He wheezed. "I've, I've been through worse." Robin looked up at them nervously.

"With Batman?"

"Sometimes." Natasha sat back down in the chair across from Robin, who had closed his mouth desperately.

Steve studied the small form carefully. Robin seemed well equipped, a suit made out of kevlar, escrima sticks, and Steve had seen what he had in his belt. Someone had armed a child with more gadgets than he would ever need, and taught him how to use every one. It was scary.

But looking at the teenager now, he didn't look like a teenager. He looked like a child. Every breath wracked him with deep shudders, and his face was deathly pale. His mask covered no doubt terrified, pain-filled eyes. But what scared Steve most was the look on his face. He looked disappointed.

Natasha leaned closer to Robin, who leaned back.

"1-10?" Robin pressed his lips together.

"8," He muttered, before shutting up again. Natasha raised her eyebrows.

"Who's the leader of your team?" Robin stared at her.

"Kaldur," His long-thought out answers were gone. It seemed what he had been asked before was more important than throwing one of his team under the bus.

Steve was pretty sure if it had been another teammate, he would have taken the time to dodge. But he seemed to have faith Kaldur could handle interrogation. Or he would just give up everything and wouldn't be caused any pain.

"What-"

"Natasha." Steve interrupted, "That's cruel." Robin looked at him gratefully, before looking down to his pale, clenched hands.

"Richard Grayson," Both looked at Robin. "Who, who did you talk to?" Natasha smiled.

"Wally." Robin blanched, and clenched his hands harder, glaring at Natasha. His lips pressed into an even thinner line.

He seemed to be struggling not to talk now. Natasha smiled at him and took his hand from across the table. He didn't flinch away from her, just closed his eyes.

"He did this too," She whispered to him. Robin's eyes shot open, and he tried to get his hand away from Natasha. "He didn't want to tell us you knew something. I assume this is why?" Robin contorted his hand so Natasha couldn't hold it anymore.

He took a few shuddering gasps, and relaxed.

"Richard, Richard Grayson, Batman is my mentor, John Cane, Maxwell Lord, Naven Total, Hal Matthews, Orion Lee…" Steve tuned out the answers after a while, but Natasha paid rapt attention to every name. "With Joker, murdered, helping Batman…" He answered every question Natasha asked that he hadn't giving a straight answer to. He took a last shuddering breath, "And yes, this is why."

Natasha finished scribbling on her notepad.

"I'll get you some water," She said, standing up and leaving the room. Steve took the seat she left.

"You said you were the good guys," Robin choked out, his voice raspy.

"We are," Steve said.

"It doesn't seem like it," Robin frowned. "You guys have twisted definitions of good guys."

"You're strong, kid. I'm impressed," Steve smiled at Robin, who looked away.

"I let them down."

"No, you didn't-" He was cut off.

"Go away."

"What?" Steve asked, confused by the sudden request.

"I don't need your pity. I said go away." Natasha came back into the room, her notepad gone and a glass of water in her hand.

She walked between Steve and Robin, and unlocked one of the cuffs holding the teen down. He picked up the water nervously.

"I haven't done anything to it," Natasha stated. It was obvious Robin didn't believe her, but he took a sip anyways. After locking the handcuffs again, both left the room, leaving Robin alone. Neither of them noticed the grin on his face.

"Idiots," Robin laughed softly.

"What are we doing now?" Steve asked.

"We're talking to the blond girl," Natasha informed. "She woke up, and I was hoping she could give us a description of Richard Grayson, because if he wanted to hide his identity enough he wouldn't tell his teammates, I want to know the story."

"Right," Steve muttered.

"Artemis?" Natasha asked as they walked in.

"Mhm?" Artemis watched them come in.

"Can you give us a description of Richard Grayson?" Natasha asked.

"Him? Why?" Artemis looked confused.

"Because," Natasha smiled encouragingly.

"He's a circus freak. He goes to my school," Artemis looked at them. "Why do you want to know?"

"We are following a lead."

"On what?" Artemis frowned before her eyes widened. "Robin?" She choked, laughing. "There's no way!"

"He told us so," Looking confused at Artemis' reaction.

"He must have lied, then," She concluded. "There is absolutely no way _Robin_ is that rich, blue eyed little," She paused, realising. "Troll," She finished.

"Can you describe in further detail than 'rich, blue eyed little troll'?"

"Look, I can tell you that there is no way Robin is Dick Grayson, okay. It's not possible." But Artemis seemed less sure now that the possibility was there.

"Why? Robin hid who he is for a reason, correct?"

"Well, yeah. But that would make Batman Bruce Wayne. That's even less possible. There are no similarities between Batman and Bruce Wayne."

Natasha pulled out a small recorder, and scrolled through to a certain point.

"Richard," Robin's choked voice played. "Richard Grayson, Batman is my mentor, John Cane, Maxwell Lord, Naven Total, Hal Matthews, Orion Lee-" Natasha stopped the recording, leaving Artemis open mouthed.

"You recorded it?" Steve mused.

"Robin wouldn't tell you any of that," Artemis looked shocked. "What did you do to him?!" She seemed really mad.

"There is some truth. I can tell by your reaction. Did you recognize your own mentor's name?" Artemis took a deep breath.

"Okay, I'll prove it. Richard Grayson is the adopted son of Bruce Wayne, he goes to my school. Bruce Wayne gave a ton of money to the school, because he's a billionaire. Mr. Wayne is a sponsor of the League, and helped me get a scholarship so I could attend school closer to the Cave. Richard is this thirteen year old smart kid who shows everyone up in class. I can tell you what happened. You lot got fooled by the quick thinking and acting of Batman's prodégé. Robin's mind went to the most famous kid his age so we would know of 'him'. You got fooled, admit it." Artemis glared, "And I didn't hear my mentor's name."

"He was under truth serum," Natasha glared back. "You didn't see him. He wasn't lying."

"That's what you think!" Artemis snarled, "You don't know Robin! That kid was raised by freaking Batman! He's survived hours of _torture,_ and you think he told you the truth under a drug? No! You don't know him," She seethed.

"That kid was about to cry!" Natasha was yelling now, "I think you just don't want to accept it!"

"Cry?! You think because he _looked_ like he was going to cry he was telling the truth? I've seen Robin give the most pathetic, eat your heart out looks just to get the remote! You think he can't pretend to cry in front of you? That kid was trained by _the Dark Knight of Gotham,_ you think he can't pretend? What kind of idiots are you?"Artemis looked appalled, "I don't for one second believe Robin is Richard Grayson."

Natasha narrowed her eyes.

"We have a way to look into your dimension." Natasha lied, "We would be able to tell."

"And what way is that?"

"Tony can run his computer on the same frequency as you guys let off when you arrived." Artemis' eyes widened.

"You can do that?" She seemed more excited than nervous, "Oh, you should so totally tell Robin and Wally, I wanna see them nerd out!" Both Avengers stared at her."What?" She asked, "They're total nerds."

Natasha shook her head.

"Can you give me a visual description of Richard Grayson, please?"

"If it proves he's not Robin," She smirked. "Black hair, short, smart, young, blue eyes." She raised an eyebrow, "Very blue eyes."

"Do you want to talk to him?" The question startled Steve and Artemis.

"Yes?" She said uncertainly.

"Alright," Natasha smiled again, unlocking Artemis' handcuffs. They walked down the row of cells, Artemis looking in the windows.

"Wally!" She sprang towards the window, seeing the speedster. "What happened?"

"He was questioned similar to Robin was." Artemis looked at him with concern before she was pulled down the hallway by Steve.

"Robin?" Artemis asked as she was lead in.

"We have cameras." Natasha warned, and they left the room. Artemis turned on Robin angrily.

"You little _troll_!" She hissed, stalking up to Robin.

"A-Artemis!" He yelped when she made a grab for his mask. "Stop!"

"Are you Richard Grayson?!" She demanded.

"Uh-" He was cut off by another lunge for his mask. "Artemis!" He looked nervous.

"What, Birdbrain? Just because you're chained to a table you can't keep your mask on anymore?"

"Artemis!" He leaned backwards.

"We'll laugh about this someday?!" She glared at him, "I'm gonna kill you if you don't prove you aren't Dick right now." She stated calmly.

"I- well, uh, oh! Because that would make Batman Bruce Wayne, right? And that's stupid!" He laughed nervously.

She leaned across the whole table and grabbed his hair. As he tried to free his head she reached for his mask with her other hand.

"Artemis! Don't!" She pulled it off. And was met with his eyes being shut tightly.

And then she did the last thing anybody expected. She slapped him.

Robin's eyes opened in shock. They stared at each other for a bit.

"See, not Richard," He laughed nervously. "Cameras," He hissed quietly.

"How did you hide this?" She whispered softly. "You know M'gann has a celebrity crush on you, right?"

"Artemis, please just give back my mask and let it go. Please?" She placed the mask back over his eyes and stood silently.

"You knew," She mumbled.

"About what?"

"That I lived in Gotham."

"I did."

"What else did you know?"

"I knew I met up with one Artemis Crock every night for missions. I knew not to give you the leads in Sportsmaster missions."

"And you didn't tell me?" She sounded heartbroken.

"I didn't think I needed to. I trust you Artemis. Just because your family sucks, doesn't mean you do."

She looked at him, gratefully.

"Thank you, Robin."

"No problem."

"When did you learn to bet around truth serum?" She asked after a while.

"Comes with Gotham," He replied flippantly.

Artemis stared at Robin until Steve and Natasha came back.

"Anything enlightening?" Natasha asked.

"Yeah," Artemis mumbled, and grinned.

"What?" Steve asked as they walked back down the hall.

"I trust Robin now." She smiled, "I trust Robin way more, now."


	3. Iz Mot Mice Ooh Seal

Batman sat at the Watchtower, staring furiously at the computer screen.

 _They should have checked in by now._ He was going full Daddy-Bats, with the wormhole that seemed to have opened, and the Team missing.

Bruce looked up quickly as a text box popped up on his screen.

 _Robin?_ He wondered, seeing the familiar code run.

 **Hey.** Popped up in the box. **Is this Batman?** Bruce quickly responded, _yes, who is this?_

 **I'm Tony Stark,** Popped up. **I work with the Avengers.**

 _How are you on this frequency?_

 **I used the waves the portal thing let off.**

 _Then I shouldn't be receiving this. It would go to the mainframe. What did you do?_

 **Oh, I forgot to ask, guess what we have that you don't?**

Bruce frowned, _What?_

 **Robin.** A picture of Robin appeared, he seemed to be in a cell of some sort. Bruce's fists clenched.

 _If you hurt him-_

 **Chill out. He's fine.** He continued to glare at the screen.

 _He better be._

 **You should really try to come over and get them back, because Fury sure as heck isn't sending them to you.**

Bruce stared at the message for a second, before closing the tab.

 _I'll get them back, but I sure as hell don't need your help._ He stood up, _I'll get them back._

* * *

If someone was watching the camera feed to the cells, it would seem as if the teenages weren't doing anything remotely rebellious.

Well, it depends on if you watched before or after Robin hacked the feed and freed Artemis, Wally, and M'gann.

"Conner!" M'gann happily ran into his cell, pulling the collar off of his neck.

"Hello, M'gann." He smiled.

"Kaldur!" A similar scene was going on as Robin leapt over to Kaldur, removing the Atlantean's collar.

"Thank you, Team," Kaldur greeted them as Wally quickly unlocked his hands.

"M'gann?" Artemis tapped the Martian girl on the shoulder.

"Hmm?"

"Can you call the bio-ship?"

"It might take a while, but yes, I can."

"Good," Artemis smiled and walked into Kaldur's cell where the boys were waiting, leaving the couple to their reunion. "Hey, Wally, Robin," She spoke up. "That lady said something about talking to our dimension or something. Through technology." The response was instantaneous. Both of their faces lit up as they looked at her in absolute elation.

"Yeah! If you had the right computer, and some codes-" Wally was cut off by Robin shaking his head.

"You don't really need code! Only if you wanted a specific person-"

"Ah! The waves let off from the-"

"Explosion! Right!" They both turned on Artemis and Kaldur with pleading eyes.

"Can we look at it?" They chorused.

Artemis grinned, looking at Kaldur who nodded.

"Whoever gives us better reasoning can go to the computer while we get the bio-ship."

"I got this," Wally stepped in front of Robin cockily. "We can grab it and once we're in the bio-ship we can contact the League!"

"No, Kid Idiot," Robin sighed, annoyed. "It would need to be hooked up to the computer. The bio-ship doesn't have that." He smirked at Wally's face. "We do need the codes though, they took my belt so they could have contacted Batman. I could get them."

Kaldur and Artemis looked at the two, now arguing, boys.

"Robin?" Artemis asked, "How long would it take you to contact Batman?"

"And get through the security on the computer? Ten minutes max."

"Wally?"

He slumped, "Twenty minimum."

"Don't worry Wally, I'll bring you a souvenir," Robin cackled.

"Wally, you give Robin backup if he needs it, okay?"

"Fine," Wally grumbled.

"Great!" Robin cheered happily, dashing out of the room. "I'll meet you at the bioship!"

"The one thing I'm slower than Robin at," Wally marveled. "Is being a total geek."

"You're still pretty good at that, Baywatch."

* * *

"Oh, no, they didn't," Tony deadpanned, watching earlier feed of Robin looping the cameras so it appeared the teens were sitting still. " _Uh, guys?_ " Tony said through his comm-link. " _The kids may have gotten out_."

" _What?_ "Steve's annoyed voice came back.

" _Meet you out front?_ " Tony winced. Five sighs reached him.

" _Coming,_ " Rang out through his earpiece.

As Tony stepped out into the street below Avengers tower, he was met with the weirdest sight. And New York gets pretty darn weird. But not to weird that five teenagers in bright costumes standing in the middle of the street was normal. No freaking way that is normal.

 _Wait_ , Tony stopped. _Five?_ One-two-three-four-five. Yep. Five.

"Steve," He said to the super soldier who was about to run past him.

"What, Tony?"

"There's five."

"Uh, huh," Steve paused, counting. "Five, right." Tony stared at him. "What? Am I- oh." He realised. "There should be six, right?"

"Yep," Tony nodded. "And I think I know where the last one is. I'm taking Natasha!" He shouted before grabbing the assassin around the waist and pulling her up to his lab.

* * *

Robin padded lightly through Tony Stark's lab, before pushing one of the chairs in front of the supercomputer away. Kneeling down, Robin attached a cable from his gauntlet to the computer.

"Dang, that's a lot of security," He mumbled, typing quickly.

"Dang, that's a lot of tiny, other dimensional kid," A voice rang out from behind him, and Robin whirled around.

Tony Stark stood in the doorway, Black Widow behind him.

"Hey, Iron Suit Dude," Robin nodded, before turning back to the computer.

"Ninja Brat," Tony aimed a blaster at Robin's head. "Get. The. Hell. Off. My. COMPUTER."

"I'm busy," Robin mumbled, fully aware of the weapon pointed at him. Neither Robin or Natasha knew if it was on stun.

"So am I," Tony smirked. "I'm busy with your friends downstairs. So beat it."

"Nah," Robin smirked, his typing speed increasing. "I'd rather talk to my fam, if you don't mind."

"Who?" Tony lowered his arm in surprise, "Did you say _fam?_ That isn't even a word!" Natasha looked at him as if he was an idiot, and leapt at Robin.

It was like something from a movie. As Natasha came at him, Robin ripped his gauntlet away from the computer, and jumped for the vents. She caught his foot as Robin's hands came in contact with the grate, and she yanked him against the ground. Tony stared as they swung punches and kicks at each other.

"Hey, Tony!" Natasha called, as Robin made another jump for the air vent. "Are you gonna stand there like a statue or are you gonna help?!"

"Oh!" Tony snapped out of his trance and fired a stun shot at Robin. "Yeah! Helping!" Natasha dodged a bird-a-rang as it came at her head.

"It would help a lot more if you could hit him!"

"I'm trying, Natasha! It would help me hit him if you weren't in the line of fire!" Now, Robin was fully capable of escape, but that wasn't what he was attempting. Robin wanted to get in contact with the League, even if it was only for a few seconds. He thought he could make it. He couldn't.

It happened slowly. First, he slipped and got punched by Natasha. This allowed Tony to fire multiple shots at him, forcing him away from the computer and back towards Black Widow. She kicked at him but he dodged, placing him between a wall and a cabinet. Leaping upwards, Robin launched himself on top of the cabinet, before slithering across the tops of various items to reach the computer again. He didn't notice the gas until it was too late.

Fumbling for his rebreather, Robin forgot secrecy and jumped to the floor in an attempt to avoid the gas coming from the ceiling.

"Ah!" He cried out as Natasha kicked him in the chest, knocking the rebreather away. Escape it was, then.

He turned and ran for the door, maneuvering through the cluttered lab quicker than Natasha could.

"Jarvis, lock all doors and windows, please?" Tony called out, and Robin doubled his pace towards the exit.

" _Closing now, Sir._ " Ten feet from the door… He didn't make it. Robin put his hands out to break his crash into the solid metal.

"Natasha, you got a gas mask?"

"Yeah, Tony."

"Cool," Robin couldn't tell where the voices were coming from anymore. "Hey, Nat? Did you see if the kid had one?"

"He doesn't anymore," Natasha replied, coming out of the maze. Robin could barely make her out of the fog covering his vision.

"Is mot mice to seal," Robin managed, before leaning against the door, trying to support himself.

"I didn't seal," Natasha giggled as she walked up to the struggling teen. "He's over here, Tony!"

"Mot nice do drug eple thither," He complained as Tony scooped him off the floor. When had he fallen?

"Really? I haven't grasped that concept yet," Tony grinned. "I think drugging people works out nicely."

"S'not for thee," Robin mumbles, going limp against the Iron Man suit.

"Thee?" Natasha mused, "Are you foreign?"

"Dugged," Robin replied, lazily glaring at her. "Uz a you erks."

"Hear that, Nat? We're erks." Tony smirked at Robin, who was fighting to stay awake in his arms.

"Es you re. Et e o."

"What did you say?" Tony frowned at Robin.

"I ed et e o. I ot anna seep." Robin was babbling now, desperately wanting to stay awake and going about that by spouting nonsense.

"Mhm," Natasha smiled, motioning for Tony to follow her into the elevator.

"Op! Ut e own!" Robin weakly punched at Iron Man.

"Nah, kiddo. We're gonna go get your friends now." Tony smiled, "And I think I know how to do that." Robin's eyes widened behind his mask before he went limp in Tony's arms, the gas filling his system.

* * *

"Kaldur, Robin's off the link!" M'gann called out.

"How?" Kaldur leapt over to her, dodging Captain America's shield.

"I don't know! He just, he just left!" She cried frantically, flying around lighting strikes.

"He didn't leave, Miss Green!" Tony called out, hovering over the battle.

"Oh my God," M'gann cried, looking up.

"Can you get him?" Wally asked her, protecting Artemis from the barrage of arrows Hawkeye sent her way.

"Robin!" Artemis called out, "Are you alright?"

"He's unconscious, Baby Clint!" Tony flashed her a grin. Superboy launched himself at the suit, just to be knocked out of the air by Thor.

" _M'gann, get the bioship._ " Kaldur commanded.

" _But Robin!_ " She protested as she summoned the ship.

" _We will get him before we leave, but we need a quick getaway._ " M'gann frowned but opened the ship doors.

" _Go,_ " Robin's thoughts came filtering into their heads.

" _Robin!_ " M'gann cheered happily.

" _Go, guys! I'll be fine. Get in the ship!_ " Robin instructed.

" _No, Robin. We are not leaving without you._ "

" _Dude! You can't stay here!_ "

" _Robin, we can help!_ "

" _No._ " Robin stated, still limp in Tony's arms. " _Get out. You can't help me._ "

" _We can!_ "

" _No, you can't. Go, before they know you have an escape route._ " Kaldur looked up sadly.

" _Are you sure we can't help?_ " He questioned.

" _Yes. Now leave!_ "

"He's awake," Natasha informed Tony.

"No he isn't," Tony replied, looking down at Robin.

"Yes, he is," She insisted. "I'm gonna intercept the others."

"You do that," Tony mumbled, watching her slip around the conflicted teenagers.

Conner landed back by his teammates, who were staring angrily at the Avengers.

"You can surrender," Natasha quipped from behind them, earning four startled turns. Wally gaped open-mouthed at the spy while Artemis punched him, having been the only one not to move.

" _She isn't here to stop us, Wally._ " She reprimanded. " _She wants us to give up. They're using Robin as bait._ " She sighed sadly. " _He's right. The best thing we can do is leave._ "

" _Robin, will you be okay?_ " M'gann questioned.

" _Yeah, just go!_ "

They looked defeated as each teen jumped into the bioship.

" _We'll be back,_ " Conner assured.

" _I know you will,_ " They felt Robin's smile through the link.

"He's been disconnected," M'gann informed. "I think he knocked himself out."

"We will be back, right guys?" Wally asked.

"Definitely."

* * *

"Who is locked up in our basement?" Growled Pepper.

"Uh, a teenaged vigilante from another dimension?"

"You realise how crazy that sounds?"

"Yes, Pepper," Tony sighed.

"And why did you think this was a good idea?" She seethed with silent rage.

"Uh, instincts?"

"Locking up a child like some criminal was instincts?"

"Yes?"

"He isn't a criminal, Tony!"

"We don't know that, Pepper!" He retorted, "For all we know, he could be some villain trying to take over Earth!"

"Where's your proof?"

"We can't take any chances!"

"No," She frowned. "You can't. And I get that, Tony. I do. But you should just talk to him. I mean," She looked at him sadly, "Truth serum? The kids you found may be trained, but that's cruel. They may have cooperated. You couldn't have just talked to them?"

"The truth serum wasn't-"

"Don't say it wasn't your idea, Tony!" Pepper shouted at him. "We both know full well that Nat didn't come up with that!"

"But-"

"TONY SHUT UP!" She yelled, "I DON'T CARE WHOSE IDEA IT WAS, BUT IT WASN'T ACCEPTABLE!" Tears slid down her face.

"I'll talk to him, Pep, okay?" He wrapped his arms around her. "But if they turn and begin to attack us, know I'll be the first one to say 'I told you so.'"

"Deal."


	4. Before I Do Something You'll Regret

"I can't believe we left him," M'gann looked down at her hands miserably.

"M'gann-"

"He wouldn't have left any of us."

"But-" Kaldur tried again.

"No, Kaldur, M'gann's right." Artemis frowned, brushing a tear away from her eye. "Robin wouldn't have left us."

"But at what cost?" Kaldur asked, "We did not know what they would have done had we have not left."

"We could have helped though," Artemis protested. "We could have bargained or-"

"Bargained what?" Kaldur snapped, "You heard Robin, he told us to leave. Do you think he would have let one us turn ourselves in in exchange for him?"

"No," Wally spoke up raspily. "He wouldn't."

"But-" Conner frowned. "He'll be okay, right?"

"Right," Kaldur nodded, trying to make himself believe it. "He'll be just fine."

* * *

Tony glared angrily at the stubborn teenager in front of him.

"Kid, I'm trying to talk to you!" He reasoned exasperatedly.

"Mmm," Robin responded, looking at the ceiling.

"Look, okay, Pepper wants me to talk to you. So talk," Tony spread his arms and sat down.

"No."

"Okay, I'll talk. What questions do you have?" Tony leaned forwards.

"Can you leave?" Robin sulked.

"No."

"Hmm," Robin responded.

"Kid, it's me or Fury, so if I were you, I'd spill."

"No."

"Okay," Tony sighed and opened the cell door. Robin perked his head up to watch him enter the cell and lock the door behind him. "I'll wait."

"Are you just going to sit there?" Grumbled Robin after a few minutes of Tony staring at him.

"Yep."

"Why?"

"Because."

"Because is used as a word or phrase that stands for a clause expressing explanation or reasoning. You can't say 'because' and not _explain_." Robin stated exasperatedly.

"Mhmm, is it?" Tony grinned, "I gave my explanation with silence, as did you. I think that's fair."

"Whatever." Robin turned back away from Tony, crossing his arms.

"Hey, kid-"

"No."

"What is wrong with you?" Tony glared at Robin.

"Excuse me?"

"I barely know you and I already think you're insufferable, annoying, intolerable, abrasive, intrusive-"

"So?"

"So why don't you defend yourself?"

"Maybe I simply _don't care,_ " Robin suggested, his voice laced with annoyance and sarcasm.

"Really though?" Tony smirked, " I don't think so. I think something messed you up so badly, you think this is the way to go. Something in your life makes you feel like this is the way to go. Something-"

"Shut up," Robin's voice has laced with anger, his hands gripping the bench underneath him so hard, his knuckles turned white. "You don't know anything about me, or my life, or anything!"

"So tell me."

"I don't want to, because _I don't care._ " He turned a glare on Tony. "I _don't care_ if you're going to assume something messed me up. I _don't care_ if you're going to sit here, asking questions and expecting answers. I _don't care_ if you wait around in this little cell _forever_ because you think I want to talk to you, because I _don't!_ "

"Sounds like you don't care about anything."

"I care about plenty, you just didn't fit the bill." Tony gazed at the odd child in front of him.

"Well I tried," He announced as her stood up and reopened the door. "You can't say I didn't try," Tony mumbled as he left.

* * *

Personally, Natasha couldn't tell what Tony was trying to accomplish when she watched the video of his conversation with Robin, but, she couldn't deny at least some of it would be useful to her. She would have to talk to Robin again herself, of course, to confirm her suspicions, but the speech clues were important. Knowing the _exact_ definition of 'because' was not exactly a common thing, and it suggested English being a second language. Which would make sense, if she was following the snap inquiry she has made in Tony's lab, when he chose to use 'thee' as a version of 'me' instead of the more natural English response of just 'ee' or 'nee'.

"That kid doesn't want to talk about anything!" Tony burst into the room angrily.

"It seemed like he had plenty to say, if only to get information out of you, you just didn't go about it right." Natasha looked at him reprimandingly.

"Well, you go try to talk to him!" Tony gestured angrily as Natasha raised an eyebrow.

"I already have."

"He lied to you! While he was under _truth serum_ ," Tony scoffed, "I'd say that went even worse than my conversation did!"

"There wasn't much to call a conversation, Stark." She narrowed her eyes, "And he obviously would rather talk to a less observant party such as yourself."

"I'm not less observant!"

"Well you sure seem it!" She took a deep breath, "Just him reacting to your statements gives us information, I want you or Steve to go in later, you both seem less threatening."

"Have Steve do it, I'm gonna go try to find the other kids." Tony grumbled as he walked away, "And don't try to rope Banner into your confrontation, he's helping me in my search!" Natasha shook her head exasperatedly.

"Hey, Steve?" She spoke through her comm set, "I need some assistance."

" _Too professional to say 'help'?_ " Tony's voice filtered back.

"Is that you volunteering, Stark?"

" _Nope_."

" _What do you need, Natasha?_ " Steve asked.

"How do you feel about talking?"

* * *

Steve stepping into the room holding Robin uncertainly. Natasha had said he would accidentally let thing slip if he thought he was with a less attentive audience. Steve wasn't sure. All he had previously seen from the child was snarkiness or defiance, sometimes worry or defensiveness over his team and secrets, but he didn't pin Robin as one to let information slip, unless it was on purpose. Natasha had said something about verbal slip-ups, like a slight accent on some words or overstressing something that shouldn't be stressed at all in the English language.

' _Try to get him to say Crayon,_ ' Natasha had suggested, claiming it was a word that could discern many things about origins, accents, and original languages depending on the way it was said. Steve had wondered how the heck he could bring up a Crayon in a conversation without it being suspicious.

Robin was leaning tiredly up against the wall when Steve walked in, snapping up when he registered the older hero.

"I'm beginning to wonder why you keep sending different people in," Robin commented warily.

"I am too," Responded Steve as he locked the door. Sitting down across from the teenager he took off his helmet, which he had forgotten to do with the excitement going around. Robin looked at him cautiously.

"I hope that isn't a gesture you expect me to return," He stated, gesturing to his mask.

"I'm sure it's one you'll be asked to return in the future, but I'm not asking that right now."

"Then what are you here to ask for?"

"I'm just starting casual conversation." Steve smiled, "So we can get to know each other."

"No, thank you," Robin smirked back, crossing his arms over his chest.

"I'll ask a question then," Steve grinned, acting as if he hadn't heard the attempt at a shut down. "What color are your eyes?"

"A deep, dark red that will stare into the darkness of your soul and pierce you to your very core." Robin's voice became serious, "Hence the mask."

"Well it must be a heavily defining feature if you feel the need to cover only your eyes as an alternative to your entire face."

"Something like that."

"Are they blue?" Robin raised an eyebrow. "I seem to remember someone saying once, 'his eyes are blue, very, very blue'."

"You seem to be going off both the incorrect name I gave you and the incorrect description I assume Artemis gave you." Robin scoffed, "You also seem to be suggesting that I really am Richard Grayson. Trust me, if I was that kid I wouldn't have to do what I do. I could pay for world peace."

"Can you tell me who Orion Lee is?"

"Excuse me?"

"You heard me." Robin's forehead creased in confusion.

"Orion Lee," He repeated slowly, before a mix of realisation and oh-shoot-I-screwed-that-up crossed his face.

"You know, one of the Justice League members you gave up earlier?" Robin looked away. "So you really did lie. I wouldn't have believed it."

"What are you guys trying to gain here?"

"Anything you'll give us," Steve admitted. "What are you hoping to gain?"

"Are you serious?"

"Yes."

"Did you guys really get communication to our mentors?"

"I'd assume so." Steve looked at him skeptically, "You seem to have more questions for me than you did for Tony."

"I do," Robin stated simply.

"Can you say Crayon for me?" He burst out suddenly. Robin smirked.

"No."

"I just want you to say Crayon, is that bad?"

"You're trying to label where I come from in the United States by locating my speech patterns. It isn't a very effective tactic, and you're assuming I even live in America."

"Do you not?"

"That's for you to figure out, isn't it?"

"It is," Steve agreed. He put his hand to his ear-piece and turned away from Robin, who perked up, trying to see what he would do. "You good, Natasha?"

" _Yeah, I think I have enough, you want to leave?_ " Steve nodded, knowing she could see it. " _Okay, I'm gonna wait until you're out, I want to analyse something._ "

"Okay, Nat." He turned to open the door.

"Where're you going?" Robin piped up.

"Out," Steve said curtly.

"Where are we?"

"What?" Robin sighed.

"I asked, where we are."

"Meaning?"

"Where is our current location?"

"Manhattan."

"Cool." Robin leaned back against the cell wall.

"Anything else?" Steve frowned, "Where did you think we were?"

"Have fun with your going out," Robin responded with the annoying innocence only a child could put into their voice.

"Have fun with your staying in," Steve shot back.

* * *

Natasha _really_ wanted to take Robin's mask off. Sure, she had gotten plenty from Tony and Steve's conversations, and a ' _Nat, that would be so unethical_ ' from Bruce when she brought the idea up, but a facial recognition scan would be so much more helpful. She could probably get a general list though Tony's computer into another dimension thing, but she wanted to find out what this kid's deal really was, not just 'a general list'.

She already knew he was foreign, and that he lived in America but had probably immigrated at a young age, or been raised in America and taught his parents customs. The way he had reacted to Tony's accusation of not caring suggested trauma. That only narrows it down to a couple _thousand_. Oh, she _really wanted_ to take his mask off.

"Tony?" She spoke through the comm, "Can I use the software you developed to sneak on the other dimension?"

" _Yeah, Natasha. What were you looking for?_ "

"I have a few specifications," She hesitated. "And I want to run a search on Richard Grayson."

" _I thought you guys figured he lied?_ "

"It doesn't hurt to check."

" _Uh, it hurts me, that's my time you're wasting._ "

"Stark, it's two searches, I'll be there in a minute."

A minute later Natasha was looking at all the black-haired, light-skinned boys in the other dimension. And there were a lot. Flicking through the pictures, Natasha began to realise they wouldn't get anywhere without the color of Robin's eyes.

"Found anything yet, Nat?" Tony was leaning back in his chair, feet propped on the desk.

"No. Can you look up Richard Grayson?"

"Uh huh," Tony typed in the name. "Looks like we got quite a few results." When he transferred the pictures to the screen Natasha stepped back in shock. There were thousands, if not _millions,_ of photos.

"How famous is this kid?" She wondered. Her eyes raked over the photos curiously. Many showed a teenage boy standing next to an older man, there were some of him speaking in front of crowds, she was sure she saw a few magazine covers too. But what really caught her eye was a picture of two boys, Grayson and a red haired boy sat on the steps in front of a manor. "Stark, run a search on Wally West."

"On it," Stark pulled up some pictures. Sure enough, one was the same photo, the two boys laughing on the steps.

"Well, that certainly changes things."

"How?" Tony frowned. "You aren't even sure Robin is Grayson."

"Well I know how to find out." She frowned, "If he managed to hide his identity from someone he saw inside and outside of costume hours, I want to know how he did it." Stopping at the door she asked, "Tony, can you run a search on Robin? Figure out everything you can."

"Sure, Tasha."

* * *

" _You don't know anything about me, or my life, or anything_!" Tony remembered what Robin had snapped as he stared at the article in front of him. The title picture showed the brightly colored hero being carried out of a building by a man dressed in black.

' _Thanks to our photographers we have acquired a photo of the Dark Knight having to carry his young sidekick after a particularly violent fight with Joker. This photo has caused us to ask, how young really is Robin?_ ' Tony scrolled down the page, frowning at the photos of Robin in combat, before his eyes fell on one.

It was taken from far away, but the vigilante unconscious on the ground was clear enough. ' _Too dangerous of work for a child?_ ' The caption read.

"What are you looking at?" Steve asked, walking up behind him.

"What are they letting this kid _do_?" Stark mumbled.

"Excuse me?" He leant over Tony's shoulder, visibly tensing when he saw the limp form, one that obviously belonged to Robin. "Dear God."

"I think Natasha was looking for you," Tony said, turning away from the screen.

"Why?"

"I actually don't know. She probably wasn't even looking for you actually. But you might want to check on her before she does something reckless."

"What is she going to do?" Tony wordlessly pulled up an image of Richard Grayson.

"Shoot."

"Talk some sense into her, please? I don't want to deal with that kid any more ticked off than he already is."

* * *

Steve found Natasha stalking down the hall outside Robin's cell.

"Natasha!"  
"Yes, Steve?" She turned towards him impatiently.

He looked at her carefully. "What are you doing?"

"To talk to Robin."

"Nat, I really don't think he'd appreciate that."

"Since when are the feelings of a detainee our priority?"

"Since our 'detainee' began to look not even out of high school yet!"

"That doesn't change the fact that they popped up into our world and almost immediately attacked us! We don't know anything about them!"

"Natasha, I think you should calm down before you do something you'll regret."

"I don't live with regrets, Rogers." And she turned to walk back down the hallway. Steve grabbed her arm.

"Romanoff."

"Let go of my arm, Steve, before I do something _you'll_ regret." There was a glint in her eyes that told him she wasn't kidding.

So he let go. He was _not_ going to be one of the reasons this team fell apart. Now he only had to hope these kids wouldn't be either.

* * *

"Where is my nephew, Bruce?" Flash's voice was very low, very dangerous, and _very_ out of character.

"I have no idea, Allen." His eyes narrowed at the younger man. "But I've been looking."

"Well then why aren't they back yet? You're the almighty Batman!" Barry taunted angrily.

"They've disappeared off the face of the Earth."  
"Surely you've heard something!"

"I have. And you're right, Allen. I am the almighty Batman. So I'd advise you shut your mouth. Might I remind you my son is missing too." Barry opens his mouth to object but Bruce cut him off again. "Please don't jump to the conclusion that I am slowing in my investigation simply because _Wally_ is on the Team." He glared coldly, and turned his back on the other hero. "I'll let you know when they'll be back."


End file.
